During the recent Christmas holidays, I managed to get through a bumper crop of fascinating books. What follows is my two-cents-worth on the first two in the pile…
THE DEFENCE OF THE REALM - The Authorized History of MI5
Written by Christopher Andrew
The phrase “does what it says on the tin” comes to mind. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of one of the most famous (and sometimes, infamous) security services in the world, this mammoth work of scholarship was commissioned from Britain’s leading intelligence historian. The term “mammoth” isn’t an exaggeration. Nearly 900 pages of text, and enough citations to do justice to an entire set of encyclopedias.
The Defence of the Realm is exhaustive - no stone is left unturned, no scandal ignored, no triumph untrumpeted. This is a warts-and-all study that reveals fascinating behind-the-scenes information about British history, as well as various global events, such as the World Wars and the Cold War. Let’s call it “backroom history” - events as witnessed in the shadows, in the cabinet rooms, the interrogation cells, the flats & hotels and bars…and about 90% of it is compelling. On rare occasions, there’s a little bit too much minutae (in other words: too much info-dumpting). But these moments are drowned out by the far more fascinating and surprising revelations, which include: (1) the non-existent, sorry state of intelligence before 1909; (2) how both the British AND the Russians completely misjudged the Cambridge Five; (3) how the personalities of the Director-Generals affected the security service in the most peculiar of ways; (4) the paranoia of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. There is much, much more…
The Defence of the Realm should be considered the last word on both MI5 and historical scholarship. Rarely are such mighty tomes both well research and well written, but Christopher Andrew manages to produce a masterful work that will easily stand the test of time, and will no doubt prove to be an invaluable resource in years to come. This one is definitely recommended.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - The Evidence for Evolution
Written by Richard Dawkins
Yes, this is brought to you by the (shall we say…combustible :D ) author of The God Delusion, but this time FAR less angry, and a bit less smug. I promise…
How do you sum up this book? As easily as this: Evolution is a FACT. Here, laid out before you, are the FACTS that support this statement. Scientific FACTS. Fossilized FACTS. Molecular FACTS.
If you haven’t noticed, the key word is FACTS. No supposition, no guess work…nothing but clear cut FACTS. Let’s put it another way: The Greatest Show on Earth lays out the evidence creationists claim doesn’t exist. Then, it sighs in resignation and incredulity, as creationists simply ignore the very same evidence they have asked to see!
Nothing - not one item — in this book qualifies as speculation, and while I found some of the science a bit of a slog (I am, after all, a humanities teacher), everything is laid out as a series of simple, matter-of-fact arguments, chapter by chapter. It’s the literary equivalent of watching a series of dominos topple…slowly, assuredly, one-by-one. One might almost call it breathtaking…
The book ends in despair…despair over the current trend to subvert reality, reason, and science. It’s not presented with any animosity…simply weariness. Like fighting against people determined to believe that the “theory” of gravity is something that remains unproven or unsupported. A brick wall of ignorance and deception.
In other words, if you read this and STILL can’t comprehend individuals that would viciously try to fight against the FACT of evolution…then you are in very erudite company.
